Configuration of software packages, such as SAP® R/3 enterprise resource software, is time consuming and labor intensive. For a large scale software deployment across an enterprise, a software package must be configured for a variety of sites, groups, or industries (e.g., chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer products, administration). Accordingly, configuration is costly, prone to errors, and requires an expert with strong application configuration knowledge. In addition, configuration of a software package is complicated when migrating legacy data and processes to the new software package. Thus, only a limited amount of enterprise data is taken into account.
U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2006/0206366 A1 discloses a method of displaying a process characterized by multiple process steps. The process comprises the step of displaying a first process flow representing the process in a flow chart format on a report, wherein the first process flow represents a first characterization of the process. A second process flow is displayed representing the process in a flow chart format adjacent the first process flow displayed on the report, wherein the second process flow represents a second characterization of the process that is different from the first characterization of the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,067 discloses a product hierarchy database that organizes company market performance and stock investment information by the products and services produced and offered by each competitor. The companies that produce each product/service are relationally linked to each of their products/services through records. An investment information service includes the product/service hierarchy database and makes it accessible to investor and analyst subscribers through a query system across the Internet. Data entry personnel continually load qualitative and quantitative information about companies and their products/services through a product hierarchy generator connected to the product/service hierarchy database. Subscribers can punch-through to query individual data items, and they can find out what relationships exist between all the important aspects of the companies and the products/services being tracked. The invention also provides for the creation of an index and corresponding index value for every product or service type in the database, which consists of a composite of all companies in a product or service area and whose index value can be measured and compared against any other product or service type index value.
There remains a need for model-driven methods and tools to ease the processes for configuration of a software package, in particular, to provide a large amount of enterprise-specific data and information, thereby allowing the development of a full configuration environment.